It seemed a great fortune that none in their small caravan, animals included, had lost life nor limb to the [umbral wolves], though the sadness lingered in each of them, like dredged up silt after a bad storm in an ordinarily clear-water lake. The sheep were returned to the makeshift pen, and dinner was had. Though the miasma had been fully dispelled, a gloom remained over the group as they ate a hot meal together, staring quietly into the dancing light of the well-fed fire. The guards would keep the fire burning all night as a precaution, though it would ultimately be unnecessary.
The children had been the first to bounce back, from the youngest to the oldest. There was very little sadness that had settled in their young hearts. For Lissa's part, she had discovered something wondrous in the aftermath. Upon the ground, sprinkled all under the dissolved fog the largest of the wolves had made, and clumped thickly in each of the places that the other three had died, were strangely steaming black globs. Lissa, unchecked in her curiosity, poked at a few pieces of the strange find. It was cool and almost wet to the touch, but when she picked some up, it draped in long, smooth strands over her fingers. Excited, she gathered up as much of the decadently soft, mist-cool stuff as her small arms could carry, and brought it over to her father.
Drust hunched over the bowl of stew he'd barely tasted. He stared at the ground with distant eyes, sunken and shadowed. Lissa's tiny leather boots came into view, and the sparkle in his eyes seemed to rekindle. Looking up from her feet, he noticed the steaming mass in her arms and startled into alertness. Her openly curious and excited expression came into focus and he breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could speak, she thrust the wads at him, and asked, "What is it, daddy?"
He couldn't help but smile at the exuberant curiosity she embodied. "Well, I'd guess it's something the [umbral wolves] left behind when they died. Let's see what we can learn, mm?"
He could barely feel any emotion besides grief, so he looked up into his little girl's eyes, imagining what questions the mystery in her arms stirred in her. She wanted to know so badly what everything was, how it worked, why it was that way, and he leaned into the familiar pattern of questions and intrigue. He connected the vicarious emotion to the magic inside him, added to those his impression of the material in Lissa's hands, and metaphysically twisted them together until his identify spell began returning knowledge to him. It didn't manifest physically this time, but still he learned answers to share.
"It's called [umbral fur]. Some of it is better quality—probably the strongest wolf gave finer fur. It has some magical properties, at least [shadow] and [vapor], but I can't quite figure the rest of them. The result is actually very similar to plain wool. I reckon you could spin that into something quite fascinating if you had an inkling how to harness the properties," he explained. "One thing though: having the [shadow] property, it'll probably dissipate if you leave it for long in sunlight. So, pack it up tight tonight if you want to keep it."
Lissa's eyes and smile had slowly widened in eager excitement as he spoke. Her unadulterated joy was infectious, and he chucked, breaking into a genuine smile in response.
"Oh boy! Oh BOY! I'm gonna show mommy and auntie Igmi!" Lissa declared.
With all the reckless exuberance of a small child, she visually located the nearest of the two women and charged away, small wisps of the [fur] floating off as she ran. Drust watched her go, allowing the scene to pull him fully into the present. His wife and beloved daughter were safe and well. His sister-in-law and her husband and children were also safe and well. He took a bite of the still-warm stew in hands. The thick, savory broth and tender vegetables were satisfying and hearty. Yes, he had many good causes for grief, but... he had also been given great cause for joy.
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Naturally, the group wanted to increase their pace after the [umbral wolves] attacked them in the canyon. Unfortunately, the [sunlight] spell that the [lowephants] had used took a lot out of them. Only after a few very slow days of soaking in sunlight as they walked were the [lowephants] back up to their previous pace. Though they remained vigilant, the group wouldn't encounter anymore magical creatures for the two more weeks it would take to complete their journey.
Igmi, after being shown the [umbral fur], agreed to help Lissa spin it into something usable. It was agreed, however, that Lissa would only be allowed to keep half of the fur since the guards did most of the life-risking. After Drust's caution about sunlight, Lissa decided to see if that was actually the case. To no one's surprise, after a quarter hour, the small clump of fur she had left in a sunny spot had completely evaporated. Confirming that, she was only able to work on her spinning after the sun went down. Allowing Lissa to learn to spin on the [umbral fur] was probably the worst use for such a fine magical fiber, but they had gathered several pounds of the raw material. If they were being honest with themselves, they also couldn't put a price on Lissa being occupied in the evenings.
Her cousin, Bup, who had already been interested in the sheep, developed an even deeper interest in the [lowephants]. He didn't pepper the adults with questions, however. Instead, he observed them quietly, a small smile always at the corner of his mouth. Lissa often dragged him into playing with her, but he would eventually return, staring and absorbing everything he could. Drust eventually put him atop one of the creatures when they had stopped for an evening. The [lowephant] had grown quite used to the small human's presence, and it seemed to be happy enough with the situation. Bup began whispering to the creatures as he walked beside them, and they would often respond with subtle bioluminescent pulses.
It was a week after the wolf incident that Falton, Igmi and Hayzen's ten-year-old son, announced that he had lost a tooth. Not just any tooth either—he had lost the last of his four baby-tooth canines, his ageteeth. The younger children knew that they had incisors, ageteeth, cuspids, and molars, but didn't really know why Falton losing his last agetooth was such a big deal. The four parents conferred and agreed it was time to sit all the children down the next evening for The Talk.
One might be forgiven for thinking that 'the talk' was a birds-and-the-bees style explanation of the changes and urges brought on by puberty, but these were children who grew up in close proximity to sheep and chickens and rabbits (whose primary occupation at all times everywhere is to make more sheep and chickens and rabbits). So on the topic of the birds and the bees, the children would need some additional, human-specific information at the appropriate age, but nothing so eventful as a talk. Rather, The Talk in question was traditionally given when the oldest child of a family's generation had lost their last agetooth. It was an explanation, such as the topic was understood, on the nature of the magic of [aware beings].
Still following the riverside road to the south, the small caravan had crossed through the remainder of the grey limestone canyon a week past, and were now traveling through lush old-growth prairie. The brilliantly grasses and brightly colored wildflowers stood as tall as Drust at the shoulder. Since the attack by the [umbral wolves], they had taken to penning the sheep near the [lowephants] for added protection, but there had been no other incidents. Everyone hoped it would stay that way.
As the sun reached mid afternoon, the party called a halt for the day earlier than normal. Igmi, as the mother of the eldest, called the children together while the rest of the adults set camp for the night.
"Now, you four, pay attention." Igmi commanded, waiting until all fidgeting had paused and four sets of eyes focused on her.
"Because of Falton's last tooth, tonight will be a special occasion. Tonight, when the sun has fully fallen and both Anella and her brother Nohm have taken their places in the sky, we shall perform a ceremony that all generations before us have performed," By this, Igmi indicated the time, relatively early in the evening at this time of the month, when both moons were fully visible above the horizon. She continued, "To prepare for this special occasion, you each have a special task. Go into the field and gather things that speak to you. Find feathers or grasses or rocks or sticks, but," she held up a hand and spoke the next sentence with utmost seriousness, "you must each retrieve them with your own hands. You have until dusk to collect them and bring them back here."
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She looked each of them in the eye in turn. When she got to Lissa, of course the child had questions, "Do we have to find it today? Can I use some of the [umbral fur]?"
Igmi didn't dismiss her question, but considered it seriously before answering. "Because you collected it with your own hands, you only may use it, Lissa, but you must also go and collect at least one other thing today."
"Okay," Lissa said, eyeing the prairie grasses twice her height. The other children made to move as well.
"Wait." Igmi insisted, "one more thing."
The ashen-brown woman mentally reached into her heart, drawing on her love for each of these children in turn. She bound the magic within her to that love and completed the [locate family] spell with a gentle pat on each of their heads. They took the touch as a signal to head off into the rustling grasses. For at least the next several hours, she would be able to locate the children, and they would be able to find her without conscious effort, instinctively knowing how to return to the camp no matter how far they wandered. Igmi wondered briefly what sort of boons the children would bring upon themselves with what they would find, but she would know soon enough. Part of the wisdom of sending them off to forage, she thought thankfully, was giving the adults enough time to prepare.
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Upon receiving her aunt's touch, Lissa shouted, "Come on!" She grabbed Bup's hand and raced into the wall of grasses and flowers. The boy simply smiled his acquiescent smile and allowed himself to be pulled along after her. The smell of rich earth, hay, and a thousand different nectars rose up around them as they pushed into the seemingly endless field. It quickly became impractical for Lissa to keep hold of Bup's hand since she needed both to push stalks and stems apart, though he continued to follow her.
After a few minutes of walking and pushing through the dense growth, Lissa asked, "What do you want to find?" Without turning around, she diverted her path-making toward the lilting song of what might have been a bird.
"I dunno," the blonde boy replied as he stomped down the trail after her, brow furrowed in momentarily deep thought. "Something pretty, I think," he finally decided.
"Well, I want something that has a million bazillion colors!" Lissa declared.
She unintentionally stopped her forward movement momentarily to fidget with the unremarkable grey bracelet on her wrist. If it was special, why didn't it do anything? Bup, not expecting her sudden halt, bumped into her and fell back on his butt on the depressed springy green grass with an oof. He looked up at the brown haired girl petulantly through stick-straight blond bangs that had fallen in front of his grey-blue eyes.
"What was that for?" he whined as he picked himself up.
"Sorry, Bup," Lissa said quickly, and offered, "Why don't you pick the way to go?"
The boy's expression immediately brightened, and he nodded, "okay."
He didn't move immediately, listening to the life around him before he decided. Behind, he could still just make out the south of the river. Somewhere off to the right he could hear his other brothers pushing through the tall grasses. Insects' songs left off as they passed by and resumed after they'd moved on. Ahead, he could still hear the warbling song that Lissa had been following. And off the left, he could just hear tiny high-pitched squeaks. He turned to the left, and moved forward slowly, doing the very best that a five year old can do at sneaking through tall grass quietly. Had a [scout] been watching, they would have been impressed at the unskilled boy's attempt.
Lissa tried to be quiet, but her normally impassive best friend actually turned to glare at her for being so loud. So, instead of trailing a few feet behind him, she backed off—close enough she wouldn't lose him, but far enough that the additional noise she made wouldn't annoy him too badly.
As it was, Bup got within a few yards of the squeaks before they suddenly quieted. He stopped and waited, turning to Lissa and putting a raised index finger emphatically over his closed lips. This was when he really surprised her, pulling a crumbly bit of sweet pastry from breakfast out of his pocket, and dumped the whole handful into the base of the bruised stalks in the path between them. After a few minutes of standing around not moving, Lissa was getting really antsy. She was about to complain when the tiny squeaks started up again, closer than before. She saw Bup's shoulders jolt up in excitement, but he managed not to say anything.
Together they watched as a tiny, grass green rodent's nose poked out from beside the path, twitching as it sniffed for the proffered pastry. As it fully emerged, the two children could see that the furry creature was no taller than half of a handspan and iridescent green, blue, and grey-purple that would have it perfectly camouflaged here on the prairie floor. It looked like a mouse, but hopped on powerful hind legs, and it's long tufted tail stretched as long again as its body. It took a tentative nibble, squeaked, and then quickly gobbled the small pile of crumbs into its mouth. As the crumbs disappeared, its cheeks expanded like small cake-filled balloons on either side of its mouth.
Lissa, who just couldn't hold still for any length of time, inadvertently rustled the grass around her, causing the rodent's head to whip around toward her. It froze for a count of three when its iridescent beady black eyes focused on her, and with a sudden incredible burst of speed disappeared back into the grasses. As it streaked away, a few of its shimmery hairs from the tuft of its tails remained there where the crumbs had been just moments before. Bup grinned from ear to ear, and carefully reached down for the tiny clump of iridescent hairs.
His wide eyes sparkled as he gazed at them and then up at Lissa. "That was the prettiest thing I've ever seen," he said almost reverently.
Her head bobbed up and down in a repeated nod, and said, "Good. Can we keep going now?"
She itched to explore, to move; her thoughts and body both squirmed impatiently. Bup's smile didn't dim, but he closed his lips and nodded once firmly. Lissa literally jumped in her excitement and pushed perpendicular to their current movement, continuing their adventure through the scintillating emerald fields.
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Despite Bup's early success, none of the four children returned early. As the golden hour gilded the jewel toned flowers of the grassland, they finally rustled their way back to the camp. After Bup's wildlife encounter, Lissa had marched them in zigzagging paths for hours. She had given up on finding a single item that had a million bazillion colors, and instead collected as many different colored leaves and flowers as she could fit into both her fists at once. The slightly wilted bunch had nearly every color of the rainbow and a variety of different sizes and shapes.
As the two stepped back into camp, Bup noticed a rather plain brown mottled feather and decided to add it to the tuft of hair.
Not long after, Falton came back to camp. The two youngest pestered him to show them what he'd found, but he standoffishly refused. Lissa and Bup took one arm each, pulling on him in a child's-logic attempt to convince him to tell. Their squabble attracted Igmi's attention and she came over to scold the three for making such a ruckus on such an important occasion. As she was leaning over the three, Cammind, the middle child, emerged from the wall of grass, olive in the golden light. He was the first of the children to notice that the camp looked markedly different than it had on other evenings, and openly gaped at what he saw.
Before he had a chance to say anything, Igmi pulled him over to stand with the other three. "Good. You're all back on time," she said. "Did everyone find something?" The serious woman waited until they each responded affirmatively. "Let's see them," she said simply.
Lissa's overgrown bundle of grasses and flowers was quite obvious. Bup carefully held out his tiny clump of iridescent green hair and the plain feather he'd just found. Cammind proffered a handful various river and field stones. Igmi nodded to each of them, then turned to the affronted Falton who still didn't want to show the two pests what he'd found. She put on hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow. His refusal wilted like pansies in summer heat, and he pulled from his pocked a wickedly curved claw as long as his middle finger. She looked at it with a certain tightness around her eyes, but nodded to him as well.
"And, did everyone collect those things with their own two hands?" The tone of Igmi's voice held a taught seriousness. Each head nodded quickly with 'yes, ma'am's. Igmi's shoulders visibly relaxed, and she smiled warmly at the four. "Good, good. Then, we're all ready," she said.
Suddenly the serious woman's eyes sparkled. Her three sons were especially taken aback by the girlish mischief in their mother's expression. She swept one arm back and bowed in a deep curtsy to the children. She spoke her next words with lilting whimsy, "On this night, my darlings, under the moons, you'll learn of magic."